Ron Obrien Road Race 2012

A wet cold early start and the prospect of circling Pimbo  dozens of times. Enticing? Well, it turned out to be a little less dull than expected. Not the result anyone wanted, but a good showing by the team playing an active part all race.
 
It’s been a while since there was a post and a few things have developed. Ryan is a 2nd cat and I’m trying to put together a late season charge to join him. John has had a bit of a quiet season, but a full race at Pimbo sets him up for the latter part of the year. There’s been a couple of good results too. Ryan got a fine 4th at Horwich whilst I sneaked a podium against the southerners.
 
That very briefly brings us back to Pimbo. As the race rolled out the usual stupid first lap breaks went. As they did Mike ‘positive’ Rawson from Maxgear reliably informed that ‘that’s the winning move’ right before the guy sat up and waited for the bunch! The early stages continued with more daft attacks. However, there was entertainment to be had in the bunch as the wet weather was exposing the fact that someone had not rinsed his shorts properly after washing them. A foaming arse was on full display.
 
Slowly the attacks got a bit more serious, between me and Ryan we tried to makes sure we got involved, which we managed, in all but the one that stuck.!!! Ryan to be fair was unlucky, picking a fast wheel to bridge, but that wheel sat up.
 
Now it was time to salvage what was left as a big group had gone down the road. John joined us at the front to raise the pace, but no decent chase was being formed as Maxgear’s veteran team captain was marshalling proceedings too well. It needed another break to stand any chance of getting across. With a well timed bit of team work I made a move clear off the front. I was soon to be joined by 4 or 5 other strong riders and it started to work. Then things started to look even better as Ryan bridged with a few more in tow. Sadly the bigger group never got working and after a few laps off in no mans land it was all back together.
 
With the break gone and only a few laps left, Ryan made one more move in a small group to fight for the scraps, leaving me and John back in the bunch. To make things a little more interesting for me I agreed to give Phil from Kuota a lead out for the sprint. That resulted in ¾ of the last lap at full bore launching him into the last 250. Seemed to go ok, which is a good sign when we need to do it for real within the team. (Yes Ryan that’s a promise for the next bunch sprint).
 
So no points, no glory, cold legs, a day on gel duty for John and dirty new skin suits. However, the signs were positive, we were active all race. Fair to say I think we’re all ‘pinging’ going into the latter part of the season.
 
Scary isn’t it. We’re already talking about winter training camps and team plans for next year. Bigger? better? stronger?

A Beautiful warm and sunny day……

Was what greeted the riders for the CDNW event at Great Budworth LAST YEAR. This year wasn’t quite like that. On a day when the country was getting ripped apart by gale force winds and the average Daily Mail reader was looking at the torrential rain, questioning the validity of the hose pipe ban, 3 members of Team HOB turned up at Wyncham village hall raring (sort of) to go. Choice of clothing was an issue, leg warmers? Knee warmers? Wetsuit? We made our choices, had our briefing and headed out. It was at this point that one of the key and possibly most sensible decisions of the day was taken by John. He headed straight for the car without crossing the start line (smart move).

The weather made it look likely that volunteers for a long break away would be few and far between so the tactic for Ryan and I we would be to hang around all day for the inevitable bunch sprint. What we didn’t account for is how un-interested many riders were and when Ryan hit the front to raise the pace and his core temperature he distanced himself quite easily. He was quickly joined by 3 others (and a couple stuck in between) and with a bit of glass pedalling on the front by myself, the break had a minute in no time.

 photos by (Cyclesport International RT)

With Ryan up the road I was kept busy chasing down any attempts to bridge or disrupt any organised chase. After a couple of laps one such attack completely split what remained of the bunch and in no time the peleton was a measly 8 – 10 riders.

This all sounds like a nice day out so far, so lets get a couple of things clear:
1. Shortly after the start the air temp was recorded at 3 degrees. With wind chill factor this was probably sub zero.
2. After half a lap, I had no feeling in my fingers.
3. After 2 laps I couldn’t squeeze my bottle to take a drink or feel my legs.
4. Changing gear was virtually impossible (one rider reported he had to reach across with the other hand to   PULL the lever)
5. After 3 laps large parts of the course were flooded.

The break was making good progress, but then sadly Ryan (having started the break) succumbed to point number 4 (in-ability to change gear). With Hypothermia knocking on the door and the prospect of riding in a single gear, he headed for HQ. Motivation levels and interest in chasing the break down the road was now very low, yet good news was round the corner when the decision came to shorten the race. The bell lap brought a few half smiles and thoughts turned to sprinting for the lower places. When it came to the final dash the sprint was decided based on who’s legs were the least frozen and 3rd in the sprint, 9th overall, was the best I could salvage for the team. However, getting round in those conditions was a good enough achievement and keeps the team points total ticking over. I’ve had a couple of rough weeks and been pretty tired, so it was good to feel like a bike racer again. 

Back at HQ there was a lot of shivering bodies and slowly we all started to feel a little human again and by Monday evening I’d finally warmed up!! Coming up in the next few weeks there’s Capernwray Road Race, West Pennine Road Race and a full team turn out at the Regional Champs. As a Team were now in the Top 10 for the regional rankings and Ryan number 1 in Cat 3 along with second in the CDNW league. With any luck we’ll have further improvement in the coming weeks and maybe some warmer races.



Results

1 Chris Quin Macclesfield Wheelers
2 Tom Bracegirdle Team Elite
3 James Chamberlain Cyclesport International
4 Robert Palmer Stretford Wheelers CC
5 Peter Ware St Helens CRC
6 Mark McPhillips Stockport Clarion CC
7 Robert Lockhart Cyclesport International
8 James Tottle Manchester Wheelers
9 Simon Deeley High on Bikes
10 Rick Flynn GMP Racing
11 Nicolas Bertrand Biketreks Racing Team
12 Jake Cowen Biketreks RT
13 Phil Dilkes Stockport Clarion
14 Jordan Rigby teamwallis – CHH
15 Ashley Clitheroe teamwallis-chh.com
16 Zack Williamson Mossley CRT
17 Adam Sant St Helens CRC
18 Jon Taylor Team Cystic Fibrosis

Bowland Road Race Results.

Still in the middle of writing about Sundays race but here are the results for now even if it is a bit late... Oops.

Results

1. Chris Southworth Leigh Premier RC
2. Richard Binks Clay Cross Road Team
3. Ryan Pike High On Bikes
4. Ewan Farrow Ilkley Cycling Club
5. Ben Staley Team Wheelguru
6. Stephen Smith Vita Cycle Team
7. Stephen Bottomley Crosstrax
8. Robert Palmer Stretford Whls CC
9. James Rushton Aire Valley Racing Team
10. Lee Carter Ribble Valley CRC

Frank Morgan Road Race 2012

A wet cold race ahead.

Turning up at an industrial estate in Kirkby for a road race isn't very motivating normally but when it's raining and cold it really puts you off. Anyway we turned up and got signed on, changed ready to go and hit the road.

With a pan flat 53 mile race there was going to be plenty of attacks and maybe something would stick. Straight into the 2nd lap people starting trying to get away from the bunch, some being very strong but they always came back maybe having something to do the soaking wet conditions and surface water. 23 laps to a bunch formed I think of around 8 riders unfortunately no high on bikes riders got in it. I wasn't too worried as there was still 22 laps to race. When people started to realise that this was the break to be in they started trying to get across as they seen the break going off into the distance. I had a few goes myself, working with guys trying to get there but it just was not happening. Apparently the break started to dwindle from 8 riders down to 3. With 3 laps to go and you could feel the pace lifting as everyone was starting to get ready for a bunch sprint but would we catch the break... Not a chance, at 3 laps to go they had a gap of 2 minutes 35 seconds. On such a flat course there was no way anyone could bring that back in a matter of three laps. The break of two remaining riders Mark perry (dirt wheelers) riding away from Michael Ashurst (Maxgear racing) on the last lap and taking the win with Michael ashurst coming 2nd.

Coming into the bell lap you could feeling people starting together twitchy coming into the corners, with it being so wet I didn't want to take a chance so I hung back a bit till the 2nd to last bend before the finish. I could see Maxgear racing were doing all the work on the front leading out. I managed to get between in about 8 wheel coming into the final bed, with the pace pretty high no one was attacking so it came down the a mass sprint with me Ryan Pike (High on Bikes RT) taking 10th. With Dylan Yates (high on bikes RT) finishing in the bunch.

Results

1 Mark Perry (Dirtwheels Cycles)
2 Michael Ashurst (Champion System/Maxgear)
3 Chris Lawless (Champion System/Maxgear)
4 Andy Eagers (Derby Mercury RC)
5 Jack Bowyer (Teamwallis CHH RT)
6 Jacob Ragan (Champion Sysytem/Maxgear)
7 James Claydon (Bill Nickson Cycles RT)
8 Tony Greenhalgh (BC PM)
9 Dan Whelan (Onimpex Bio Racer RT)
10 Ryan Pike (High On Bikes)

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It's started...

Well I have to start by saying welcome to the new High on Bikes RT blog page. We thought it would be a good idea to have one of these pages for the team to share the racing experiences and the results from each race we take part in. So this is we're it starts! Really we are just bringing ourselfs into 2012... having a blog is the thing to do it seems. I will be posting a blog shortly about Sundays race CDNW Capernwray. So keep and eye out.